The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

The Practice of Meditation ╯
however, recommends the middle path. Success in meditation,
Krishna says, comes neither to those who eat or sleep too
much nor to those who eat or sleep too little. The body should
be neither overindulged nor treated harshly – the same recommendation
the Buddha offers.
This chapter contains the famous verse (6:19) comparing
the mind to a steady flame. By its very nature the untrained
mind is restless, constantly wandering here and there trying
to fulfill its desires. It flickers wildly like a flame in a storm
– never blown completely out, yet at the mercy of the wind.
Wherever the mind wanders, Krishna says, it must be brought
back to its source; it must learn to rest in the Self. Once it is
at home in the depths of contemplation, the mind becomes
steady, like an upright, unflickering flame in a windless place.
In this deep meditation, and only there, can the human being
find true fulfillment. Then “the still mind touches Brahman
and enjoys bliss.”
Now Arjuna asks an inevitable question. Krishna is far
ahead of him, and the struggling disciple simply can’t catch
up. He says, “My mind is so restless and unsteady that I cannot
even comprehend anything about this state of mystic
peace you are talking about.” The mind is so powerful, so turbulent,
that trying to bring it under control is like trying to
catch the wind.
Krishna admits that the mind is terribly hard to train, but
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